If it isn’t one thing in baseball, it’s another. 

Every time the game seems to progress forward with technology, scouting, athletic mechanics, and even fun, there seems to be detractors.

They call themselves baseball purists. Others call them curmudgeons.

When replay finally was implemented, “It slows the game down!” they yelled. Because taking an extra minute to make sure the call was correct has no place with the human element of umpiring — even when world championships are on the line. While I have little problems with amateur officials anywhere, at the professional level where the technology is there to all but rid the game of the human element, it’s silly it’s not used to its full ability.

But the argument on technology can wait. So can the debates on how to throw a ball properly, how to swing a bat, why some sabermetrics are better than others (and why OPS and WAR are much better stats to judge a player off of than batting average and pitching wins).

I’m old school in the sense that I value bunts, moving baserunners and scrapping every last possible run possible over exit velocity, launch angle and the like. I find those newer metrics a fun read, but I’d personally rather have a team consistently dumping base hits into the gaps than swing for the moon every pitch.

Scouting itself has gotten better over the years. As teams have begun tracking where players are hitting each ball, the shift has gone from more than just the middle infielders pinching for a double play, or the corners up for a bunt attempt. Left and right fielders don’t just get shifted based on what side of the plate the hitter stands, but rather now, where the tendency is.

These tendency shifts have truly begun to take hold in the game. The Brewers took advantage last year until still-youthful coach Craig Counsell. 

Infielders are now vacating entire halves of the infield; second basemen have started to resemble roving outfielders in a co-ed softball game. 

And the curmudgeons have begun to get vocal — extremely vocal.

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred has even let it be known he’s open to limiting shifts.

But here’s the question: Why?

When the curveball and slider were introduced over a 100 years ago, there was talk to ban the pitch. Now those are some of the most effective parts of a player’s repertoire. 

Hitters adjusted. Then came the knuckleball, and the sinker and the cutter. Again, hitters adjusted. 

Gloves weren’t a part of the game at the beginning, but outfielders, first basemen and catchers noticed how the gloves protected their hands. The rest is history. Can you imagine if gloves weren’t around today? No pitcher would throw a 100-mph heater, let alone a 90 mph toss because the catchers wouldn’t be able to stop it.

Sometimes an invention or change is good for the game. But the shift? What can that do?

Well, in today’s climate of OFFENSE, OFFENSE, OFFENSE, the defense is getting creative. Well, maybe not creative so much as smart.

If a player hits 80 percent of his balls to the first base side of second, why shouldn’t the defense be able to adjust to take advantage of that?

The hitters that complain have only one actual gripe — how can they hit the ball with a high exit velocity and see success if the defense is always where the ball lands? Well, Mr. Hitters, adjust. Take one for the team — or rather your pocketbook. 

Part of the problem with exit velocity is that the hardest hit balls are generally pulled. When the defense takes that open space away, it negates the strength of the swing. This is where a high batting average/on-base percentage can start to creep back in.

Why more lefties don’t bunt or try to slap the ball down a completely vacated third base line is asinine. 

“But Adam, those are the power hitters meant to drive in runs and hit homers!” Yeah, they are also professional athletes getting paid to produce wins. A couple of bunts down the third base line will make defenses adjust back at least a player, if not two. And if they don’t? Keep taking advantage of the open bases. Seriously, the object is to get on base first, and score runs second. You can’t score if you don’t safely reach base.

But curmudgeons will continue to curmudgeon.

“The game is too long!” Well, instead of a pitch count, maybe stop airing commercials? Oh wait, that would stop the revenue stream. So maybe instead accept that as long as commercials are a part of the game, you won’t see the 90-minute days at the ball park like you did when The Mick and Hammering Hank were playing. It’s a different game today. There is more money involved, better athletes and the stakes are simply higher.

Baseball is headed in the right direction. Instant replay is a good thing. Shifts are a trend that resemble future performance like off-speed pitches did a century ago. And bat flips are helping bring so many young people back into the game. Because if the curmudgeons keep getting their way, then the sport could die when they do — which, to be honest, is not very far away.

— Adam Krebs is a reporter for the Times and is excited that pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training in just 24 days. He can be reached at akrebs@themonroetimes.net.